Rangers force Game 7

New York Rangers center Derek Stepan (21) celebrates with left wing Chris Kreider (20) after scoring as Ottawa Senators left wing Zack Smith (15) skates by during the second period of Game 6 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series, in Ottawa, Ontario, on Monday, April 23, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)

OTTAWA — Brad Richards scored the go-ahead goal and Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists as the top-seeded New York Rangers staved off elimination with a 3-2 victory against Ottawa Senators on Monday night.

The series heads back to New York Thursday night for the first Game 7 in any sport at Madison Square Garden in 17 years.

Not even the return of Daniel Alfredsson, who missed three games with a concussion, in front of the fired-up home crowd at Scotiabank Place could help the eighth-seeded Senators complete the upset.

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Carl Hagelin returned to the Rangers lineup after sitting out a three-game suspension for his elbow on Alfredsson

The Rangers broke through in the second with three goals after going six straight periods without scoring.

Chris Neil gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead in the first with a power-play goal and Jason Spezza cut it to 3-2 with 39 seconds left to play in the third.

Neil was planted at the edge of Henrik Lundqvist’s crease along with teammate Zack Smith when Ottawa’s power play put it ahead 1-0 at 7:05. Sergei Gonchar’s point shot deflected in off Neil’s skate as he tried to jump out of the way.

That got the frenzied towel-waving crowd into a lather that only increased when Neil answered Brandon Prust’s challenge for a fight eight minutes later.

The momentum seemed to be completely in Ottawa’s favor when the first intermission hit, especially with goalie Craig Anderson locked into a lengthy shutout streak and looking sharp once again.

But the Senators lost their focus in the second period and referees Steve Kozari and Tim Peel gave the Rangers four power plays.

Stepan tied the game 1-1 during the first one at 8:55, taking two whacks at a sweet pass from Richards to beat Anderson. That ended the Rangers scoring drought at 145 minutes, 27 seconds.

A call that Ottawa fans will question helped put New York ahead for good.

New York received a lengthy 5-on-3 after Nick Foligno was sent off for goaltender interference — replays showed two Rangers players guiding him into Lundqvist — and Richards took advantage of the extra space by skating off the wall and beating Anderson high at 17:08.

That was soon followed by a back-breaking goal from Kreider, the first of his NHL career. He sneaked a shot through Anderson with 40.3 seconds to play in the period to make it 3-1.

Ottawa successfully staged a number of dramatic comebacks during the regular season — they also erased a two-goal deficit while winning Game 4 — and had plenty of opportunities to mount another one here. But Lundqvist held the Senators at bay on two power plays, denying Kyle Turris point blank and having a Chris Phillips shot ring off the post.

The Sens managed to squeeze one puck over the goal-line in the final minute, with Spezza getting credit at 19:21 after a long video review.

After six games, there has been very little to choose between teams that were separated by 10 wins and 17 points through the regular season. But the Senators have one more chance to pull off the upset, needing only one more victory at Madison Square Garden, where they are a combined 4-1 this year.

NOTES: Turris briefly left the game in the first period after a blocking a shot, but returned ... Swedish forward Jakob Silfverberg made his NHL debut for the Senators ... Boyle didn’t make the trip after suffering a concussion on the hit from Neil in Game 5 ... Two of Alfredsson’s sons, Loui and Hugo, were on the ice with Sens flags when the team came out at the start of the game ... Former Senators Igor Kravchuk and Shaun Van Allen were among the announced crowd of 20,500.